fitness stuff...So, what is up with me coming home and falling asleep right after dinner? How could I POSSIBLY be SOO exausted? I know first yr teaching is supposed to be a killer, but wouldn't it be different by now...Will this exaustion EVER go away (other than in the summer, of course!)...Looking at my diet, this makes me wonder if poor nutrition isn't the culprit. Especially for someone who's had some yuck low blood sugar issues, I probably shouldn't be going long periods of time w/o eating, and then binging on chocolates b/c I'm so starving (and there is always a teacher around me who will give up some of their stash)! I was doing a great job of planning out and preparing all of my meals, vitamins and even outfits so that healthy eating and exercise would be a planned part of my day instead of something I do when I 'feel like it,' which is NEVER. Lately, it seems as though I've fallen off of every bandwagon that I've ever been on...but, I am picking myself back up slowly...I will get there!!
I'm happy, but sometimes it seems that I barely exist during the weekdays...I'm just so tired. Maybe it is not work; maybe it is nutrition or the fact that I'v upped my exercise (SOME!) overall lately...1.5 weeks until spring break!
random stuff...Well, now it's 4am...I've been up for awhile due to one of the worst nightmares ever involving finding a bucket of brains and fingers (really!) in my closet. I was rooming with another teacher at my school (you know, "teacher-mares"), and we found the bucket together after she had been sent a letter from a man who had been in our apt. for some type of contract work...He had placed it there to 'show her what she was in for.' Sounds silly now, but holy cow, it freaked me out. In the dream I called my dad, and he offered me moving expenses and said I could live with him. How odd, in a time when I probably need to be working on my relationship with my dad (no drama, it's just that that's part of why we moved here, and teaching has kept me so busy).
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
getting there.
It's been a pretty good day, as far as my goals are concerned. I woke up and had breakfast with my husband at home, vegetarian breakfast burritos. Yum! Then, he stayed home and learned to play 'Waste,' by Phish, on the guitar. I went by myself and tried a new (for me) Unitarian church (although it is kind of a religion-less church). If you don't know, Unitarianism has been around forever (Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Jefferson, and later Sylvia Plath). It's a really need 'religion' that welcomes all creeds, or people who have no creed at all. There are 7 main principles:
1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.It was great!
...and who can argue with that?
Back home, we went to a Unitarian Church that was very liberal and socially active. This was in a college town, so there were just all these great college professor minds, lovers of science, lovers of social causes, lovers of the earth, rabble-rousing college students and 'the betweens' that would meet over fair trade coffee in this little green-built building, discussing social, environmental and spiritual issues. They ONLY drank out of old coffee cups and ate off of random dishes, b/c they would never consider wasting resources. The children's groups learned about nature, culture, and they sang songs about Critical Thinking...Really!!
Here in Dallas, I've had a little less luck. The UU church right by us is just very different than the one we came from, although great in it's own way...I like it, but it is just a lot more formal and reminiscent of more churchy churches....So, inspite of the best of Saturday evening intentions, when it comes to Sunday mornings I usually do not go. Today, I decided to take the near 20 min. drive down to the other uu congregation, which is known as the 'most liberal' church in Dallas (which doesn't necessarily mean a lot). It is built on 5 acres, with quite a reverence for nature...a walking trail, and even a meditation labrynth. It felt almost EXACTLY like my church back home, minus a few things and plus a few others. I loved it. We talked about nature, patterns in nature, the genious of nature. It is up to me to find my niche in this strange new Southern world of giant trucks, cowboy hats and an education system that resembles fascism. Here is one tiny way that I think I've found it, and I consider it a gift.
1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.It was great!
...and who can argue with that?
Back home, we went to a Unitarian Church that was very liberal and socially active. This was in a college town, so there were just all these great college professor minds, lovers of science, lovers of social causes, lovers of the earth, rabble-rousing college students and 'the betweens' that would meet over fair trade coffee in this little green-built building, discussing social, environmental and spiritual issues. They ONLY drank out of old coffee cups and ate off of random dishes, b/c they would never consider wasting resources. The children's groups learned about nature, culture, and they sang songs about Critical Thinking...Really!!
Here in Dallas, I've had a little less luck. The UU church right by us is just very different than the one we came from, although great in it's own way...I like it, but it is just a lot more formal and reminiscent of more churchy churches....So, inspite of the best of Saturday evening intentions, when it comes to Sunday mornings I usually do not go. Today, I decided to take the near 20 min. drive down to the other uu congregation, which is known as the 'most liberal' church in Dallas (which doesn't necessarily mean a lot). It is built on 5 acres, with quite a reverence for nature...a walking trail, and even a meditation labrynth. It felt almost EXACTLY like my church back home, minus a few things and plus a few others. I loved it. We talked about nature, patterns in nature, the genious of nature. It is up to me to find my niche in this strange new Southern world of giant trucks, cowboy hats and an education system that resembles fascism. Here is one tiny way that I think I've found it, and I consider it a gift.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
I'd like to thank all the little people...
...that I ate for dinner, which is why I'm enrolled in The Biggest Loser at my place of work. I'm pretty excited about winning 400 dollars and have pretty much decided that the money is mine. You can go ahead and congratulate me now, b/c I'm going to win. I don't usually report fitness info on this blog anymore, as I've become supersticious about it (it started as a weight loss blog, but I've actually gained 15 (or 20?) lbs since starting it)....Now, I didn't control for all variables, I will admit....such as increased calories and carbs and decreased exercise, dating Ben & Jerry, not to meantion that I'm not getting any younger, folks.
?
What's rolling around in my head today...
I'm not a Christian in the traditional sense, but I hope to follow Jesus (and Gandhi, and MLK, and Dorothy Day...). Can Jesus help us figure out why Americans are the richest and yet most depressed nation in the world? He said, "...it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God." These words just keep rolling around in my head.
Since I've taken my spiritual studies outside
of a traditional church, I've
come to believe that what was taken literally from the
Bible and what was taken figuratively has always been
chosen for us...For a long time, I cast the entire book aside...but, then I picked up bits and pieces and found them refreshing when viewed outside of the exlusive and oppressive context of fundamentalism. For example, in Luke it reads, "the kingdom of God is within
you." Why is this what we take figuratively? It seems to me that it is saying what might be the most true: God is in each of us... IS each of us...and then, taken with the above Biblical passage, that every overindulgence is another step away from God.
As we Americans
rationalize all that we have, one
child dies from a starvation-related cause for every
breath we take and the MAJORITY of the world does not have running water or electricity....maybe that cuts us off from our
spiritual connection with God in some way...the
"kingdom of God that is within us."
Could this be part of our collective cultural depression?
It's a finger that I point at myself, as my indulgences are plenty. I've heard it said, "we must live simply so that others may simply live." The question is, how far do we take that? Where is the line between being overly-generous and rationalizing? Where is the line between indifference and doing more than is healthy? Is there one?
I'm not a Christian in the traditional sense, but I hope to follow Jesus (and Gandhi, and MLK, and Dorothy Day...). Can Jesus help us figure out why Americans are the richest and yet most depressed nation in the world? He said, "...it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God." These words just keep rolling around in my head.
Since I've taken my spiritual studies outside
of a traditional church, I've
come to believe that what was taken literally from the
Bible and what was taken figuratively has always been
chosen for us...For a long time, I cast the entire book aside...but, then I picked up bits and pieces and found them refreshing when viewed outside of the exlusive and oppressive context of fundamentalism. For example, in Luke it reads, "the kingdom of God is within
you." Why is this what we take figuratively? It seems to me that it is saying what might be the most true: God is in each of us... IS each of us...and then, taken with the above Biblical passage, that every overindulgence is another step away from God.
As we Americans
rationalize all that we have, one
child dies from a starvation-related cause for every
breath we take and the MAJORITY of the world does not have running water or electricity....maybe that cuts us off from our
spiritual connection with God in some way...the
"kingdom of God that is within us."
Could this be part of our collective cultural depression?
It's a finger that I point at myself, as my indulgences are plenty. I've heard it said, "we must live simply so that others may simply live." The question is, how far do we take that? Where is the line between being overly-generous and rationalizing? Where is the line between indifference and doing more than is healthy? Is there one?
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